Turtle
by Kaffiene
Summary: The day before her very first A-rank mission, there is a going away party at Rei's house.  When she realizes the danger of the mission for the first time, an unlikely friend comes to her rescue.


"Ryuki, come on!"

"But, uh . . . my team's waiting on me!"

"Pfft. As if. It's the day before a big mission, and you guys get the day off."

The setting sun cast the hidden village of Konohagakure in a warm orange and red glow. Anko pulled Ryuki, her friend of nine years, through the streets by the wrist. The pair's screeching and loud voices turned many heads as they ran, though nobody was surprised to see the source of the racket.

"Where are you taking me?"

Anko looked back at her captive with a smirk. "Your house, duh."

"Then why are you pulling me there?" She threw Anko a suspicious grin.

The fiery kunoichi laughed and looked ahead of her again. "Can't a girl be excited to spend her friend's last day in the village having fun with her?" She skidded to a stop in front of a nice two story house. A smirk flashed across her face before tugging her prisoner through the front door.

Ryuki stumbled down the hall in Anko's tow. "What's the hur–" Suddenly, her eyes were covered with her friend's cold hands. "Ok, seriously," she laughed. "What's going on?"

"Oh, you'll see."

Ryuki was whirled around and led into her living room. At first, she thought she heard whispers, but before she could think about it, Anko uncovered her eyes, causing Ryuki to gasp. A large group of her friends and acquaintances were scattered around the living room. When she stepped further into the room, most of the guests, all chuunin and jounin, turned their attention to her. A few cheers sounded, some clapped, and others just laughed at those who were applauding. A pink tint appeared on Ryuki's cheeks, and she giggled and smiled shyly. Her two teammates, both male chuunin, walked up on either side of her. "Why's everyone here?" she asked Anko and her teammates.

"Well, we're leaving to go on that A-ranked mission tomorrow, so Anko and Kurenai wanted to throw us a going-away party." Yokoto, the oldest on the three man team, put an arm around her shoulders as he spoke. "You gonna stick around?"

Ryuki's nervous smile turned into a genuine grin, crossing her arms across her chest. "It's my house. Do I have a choice?"

"She's staying!" Asoru, her other teammate, called out to the rest of the room, a small cup of sake already in hand. Another round of cheers sounded, and a couple bottles of sake were passed around among the jounin and older chuunin. Ryuki was led through a crowd of familiar chuunin over to a couch where she sat with Yokoto and Asoru. Naruto beamed at her before returning to the conversation between him and the other young ninja that he often associated with. Anko gave her a thumbs up from the other side of the room where she was sitting with Iruka, Kurenai, and Asuma. Even Tsunade showed up and was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room. She smirked and nodded to Ryuki. Kakashi sat cross-legged in the corner, reading his book. Ryuki wondered how he managed to concentrate on reading with the noise in the room, not to mention the fact that Gai was in his face rambling on about how overrated he was.

Ryuki sighed contentedly, looking around the room at all of the familiar faces. "I'm sure going to miss this," she muttered under her breath.

"What'd you say, Ryu-chan?" Asoru looked over his shoulder at her from his arm wrestling match with Kotestu.

She gave a small sigh and smiled at her teammate that she'd grown up with and now seemed like her brother. "Nothing, Asoru-kun." A smirk crossed her features. "Now kick Kotetsu's butt."

Anko worked her way into the middle of the room. "Oi! Listen up!" It didn't take long for the room to fall quiet. "Let's get this party started!" She slowly turned in a circle, looking at everyone in the room in turn. A devilish grin appeared on her face. "Seven minutes in heaven, anyone?" Catcalls followed from a couple chuunin. Several people turned to their friends and started talking about who they hoped to get in the closet with or who was currently crushing on who. "Hey, shut up, people!"

Anko dropped two small drawstring bags on the floor and held a couple sheets of paper. As she spoke, she started ripping up the paper into two-inch long pieces. "Now, get a piece of paper, write something on it, and put it in the appropriate bag. There's one for guys and one for girls. Oh, and don't put anything inappropriate." Naruto snickered next to her, earning him a smack on the back of the head. "There are kiddies present," she said with a glare directed at the blonde-haired boy.

Anko tossed the slips of paper up into the air, and there was a scramble among the people closest to the woman. A piece fluttered over to where Ryuki sat, and she caught it, stealing a pencil from Asoru. She tapped her chin with the pencil, trying to think of something to write. With a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth, she shielded the paper with her hand and quickly scribbled down the word "turtle." She'd always loved how calm and collected turtles looked when they weren't hiding in their shell. Ryuki sat forward on the couch and reached for the cloth sacks Anko was holding out for everyone to put their words into. Yokoto grabbed her paper and put it into the girls' bag as well as his own in the guys', flashing her a smile.

It didn't take long for everyone to get their names into the sacks. Soon enough, Anko arranged everyone into more of a circle. By now, the chuunin were chattering and whispering among themselves, and the jounin were grumbling about having to play a dumb kids' game. "So." Anko looked around the room again, meeting everyone's gaze with a sinister stare. "Who's going to go first?" A hush fell over the room, and the nervous chuunin looked down at the floor, knowing that if they dared to meet the crazy kunoichi's gaze it would spell certain doom for them. Ryuki looked around the room, trying to keep from sniggering at all the young ninja.

Suddenly, someone coughed loudly. Ryuki jumped, surprised by the unexpected sound. She looked next to her to see that Asoru was coughing into the crook of his elbow. He returned her gaze with a smirk. He coughed again, saying her name in between coughs. Ryuki gasped and slugged him hard on the arm, smiling.

"Ryuki! You're up!" Anko called her out with a sinister grin.

"Oh, please. That was Asoru! I never volunteered!"

Anko pulled her up off of the couch. "I never said it had to be a volunteer."

Defeated, Ryuki sighed with a reluctant smile. Somehow, someone stole the bags from Anko when she wasn't looking which gave Ryuki a bit more time. Taking advantage of it, she looked around the room at all of her friends from the village she was born and raised in. The cloth sacks containing the slips of paper were tossed around the room from person to person. Anko was getting frustrated while those who were playing keep-away were laughing at her.

"Come on, guys," Yokoto laughed. "Asoru, Ryuki, and I have to live it up today before our mission tomorrow since it's…you know, life-threatening and all." He smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

The breath caught in Ryuki's throat when she heard Yokoto. Sure, she'd thought about what would happen if she didn't come back from the mission, but for the first time it really sank in that she might not come back. A gasp escaped her, and her knees faltered for a moment.

"Whoa, Ryuki . . . " Iruka, having noticed her stumble, held out his hand to touch her arm.

The woman's mind was jammed, and she slowly looked down at where she felt the touch, her eyes following the arm that connect to a familiar face, though she didn't remember whose it was. Her lips parted, but no sounds came out.

"Hey, Ryuki-chan." The confused kunoichi turned to see Asoru giving her a concerned look. By now the room had become quiet, everyone staring at the woman in the center. 'You okay?"

Ryuki's eyes widened as she nervously looked around the room at all of the people that were staring at her. She tried to say something, but only a whimper came out as she hurriedly picked her way through the people covering the floor. She ran a short way down the hall and ducked into a small empty closet.

The shadows engulfed Ryuki as she slammed the closet door shut behind her. Hot tears stung her eyes and cheeks as she cried into the darkness, her fists pounding the wall on the other side of the small room as the door. It just wasn't fair. Why did she have to dedicate her life to hard work and torture herself with grueling training just to have it end so suddenly? Why should she have to waste her life like that? She could stay behind and help out with other missions. Why couldn't Tsunade send jounin or Anbu on this mission?

"Ryuki?"

A narrow stream of light fell on the closet wall next to Ryuki. The sobbing kunoichi shut her eyes tightly, balling her hands into fists. She didn't recognize the voice of the intruder. She opened one eye to see the column of light momentarily widen before something got in the way and blocked the light. The small room once again became dark as the door was shut. She assumed that the guy had decided to leave her alone. It made her feel a little relieved since she honestly couldn't think of anyone at the party that she would want to have come after her and comfort her.

"Ryuki?" The low male voice was hushed in the small dark closet.

The kunoichi tensed, her eyes wide even though she was blind in the dark. She recognized the owner of the voice. "Kakashi?" She turned around, barely able to see the silhouette of the tall man thanks to the light coming into the closet from under the door. Her eyes were level with his shoulders. Ryuki and Kakashi had gotten the chance to talk a couple times and even went on a mission together a few years ago, but they'd never really gotten to know each other. They were just acquaintances.

"Yeah." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other and stuffed his hands into his pockets. It was then that Ryuki noticed how closely he was standing even though he was probably touching the opposite wall. "What happened out there? You just froze."

Ryuki looked down at the floor. "I just…realized something." Slowly, she leaned back against the wall, turning her head to the side.

Again, Kakashi shifted nervously from one leg to the other. Silence reigned over the next minute during which the tension kept building. "What did you realize?"

Unsure, Ryuki took a deep breath, trying to somewhat settle her nerves. Slowly, her gaze shifted back to Kakashi's dark outline. Now that her eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark, she could almost see his shining silver hair. "What if…" Her voice was thick with unshed tears, and she wiped her stinging eyes. "What if I don't come back? What if this is it, and this is the last chance I ever get at having fun? What if this is the last time my friends ever get to see me?" Her hands began to tremble at her sides. "I'll never get to get married and have kids and see them grow up."

At first Kakashi didn't say anything. He didn't even shift positions, just standing in front of Ryuki in the dark. Eventually, he let out a small sigh. "I remember my first A-rank mission." He took a step forward to the space next to Ryuki, leaning against the wall and facing the door with her. "I was much more afraid than you are," he laughed softly, causing Ryuki to give off a small smile that went unnoticed in the shadows. "I also didn't say anything about it."

Ryuki sniffled a little and wiped off her cheeks again. "What was it like?" Her voice sounded steadier than it had just before. "The mission, I mean. Was it really…I don't know. Really hard?" She turned her head to look up at the man next to her to find him already looking at her.

"It was more than a little nerve-racking," he admitted with a hidden smile. "But I can still remember that escort mission we went on a while back and the way you fought during the ambush. You'll do just fine." Kakashi nudged her in the arm with his elbow. "In the words of Naruto, 'believe it'."

Ryuki looked down at the floor with an unenthusiastic grin. "I wish I could."

Footsteps sounded outside the closet door, accompanied by muffled voices only to fade away a second later. "I think we'd better get back to the party," Kakashi murmured.

A small smirk appeared on Ryuki's face at his words. "Do we have to?" She looked up at the jounin again, her eyes now able to faintly see the contours of his face.

"Yes, or they'll keep worrying about you and wondering what we're doing together in this dark closet," he replied with a polite smile.

Ryuki's grin widened. "I suppose so." Kakashi nodded and stepped forward. His hand gripped the doorknob when Ryuki spoke again. "Kakashi, wait."

He looked back over his shoulder, his fingers still touching the cold metal. "Hm?" When she raised her arm up to hold onto her other arm, he turned around the rest of the way to fully face the skilled chuunin. "Yes?"

Ryuki laughed nervously and looked past Kakashi at the wall behind him. Taking a deep breath, she shifted her gaze up to his face. Her hand reached up and lightly touched the top of his smooth cloth mask. She paused, and when he didn't move, her fingers slipped under the edge of the mask. Cautiously, she slid one side of the mask down his face, stopping before his nose would have been exposed. She stood up on her toes and swiftly kissed his cheek before pulling his mask back up to its original position. "Thanks."

Kakashi was caught off-guard. "No problem," murmured.

Ryuki smiled as he turned and opened up the closet door. She had to squint as the light hit her in the face. She emerged from the small room and shut the door behind her. Kakashi stood next to her, his little orange book already in front of his face. Ryuki smirked at him and started off toward the living room.

"She's back!" Ino shouted as soon as Ryuki appeared in the large doorway. For the second time, there were cheers as she entered the room, a shy grin on her face.

"How nice of you to join us," Asoru joked when she sat down in her spot on the couch.

"Shut up, Asoru-kun," she laughed, punching him in the arm again.

"Hey!" He rubbed his arm where she hit him. "I'm gonna get a bruise if you keep that up."

Anko reassumed her place in the center of the group. "Right, so now that we're all together again, let's get this game started." She smirked as she held out the sack that held the guys' papers in it for Ryuki. Taking the bag, she bit her lip and fished around for just the right slip of paper. Finally settling on one, her fingers securely caught it and brought it before her eyes. The room was silent. Anko took the bag back from her, eager and expectant to see who her friend would be matched up in a closet with for the next several minutes, but Ryuki never said anything. She just stared at the paper with a raised eyebrow. "Well?" Looking up at Anko, she turned the paper around so that she could read it. "Turtle?"

Ryuki looked over to Yokoto. "Didn't you put my paper in the girls' sack?"

He looked confused. "Well, yes…unless I accidentally got the bags mixed up," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

Ryuki narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk. "Why you little–"

"Ahem." Attention was drawn to the entrance to the room. Kakashi was standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets. "That would be mine." His visible eye closed in a smile.

A dumbfounded expression crossed Ryuki's face until a sharp jab in the ribs got her back to her senses. "Come on. Aren't you gonna go? It's Kakashi…" Asoru whispered, knowing that his teammate had been harboring a bit of a crush on the jounin since their mission together.

"Shut up," she whispered harshly back to him, blushing slightly. She got to her feet and moved through the crowd of young chuunin sitting on the floor over to Kakashi. He bowed to her and took a step back into the hall, making enough room for them to walk together. Ryuki opened the closet door and stepped inside, Kakashi following.

Before he shut the door, Naruto shouted from the living room. "Get him, Ryuki-chan!"

She blushed even more and laughed as she and Kakashi were thrust into darkness. When her giggling ceased, the small room was quiet. Ryuki placed her hands against the wall behind her. "Well." She looked to the side, too nervous to face the silver haired man standing right in front of her. "Fancy meeting you here."

Kakashi laughed softly. "Fancy meeting you here, as well."

Ryuki grinned and looked back up to him. "Can I ask you something?"

The jounin nodded before he remembered she wouldn't have been able to see it in the dark. "Sure."

She opened her mouth slightly but hesitated. "Why'd you write 'turtle' on your paper?"

"Apparently you did, too. Why did you write that?"

Ryuki paused, considering the question. "I asked first."

Kakashi grinned under his mask. "Because you just can't read a turtle's expression." He shifted on his feet, bringing himself a little bit closer to Ryuki.

She smirked in the shadows. "Is that why you wear the mask? Trying to be a turtle?"

He chuckled shortly. "No. You're not even close. Your turn now. Why did you put 'turtle'?"

"You'll just laugh," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Try me."

Ryuki sighed. "Because when they aren't in their shell, turtles just look so calm, and even when they are hiding, they have all that protection." She looked down at where her feet would be if she could see them, her forehead nearly touching Kakashi's chest. "I guess I just wish I could be like that," she quietly admitted.

Carefully, Kakashi reached up and placed a finger under Ryuki's chin, tilting her head back up. "That's nothing to be ashamed of," he grinned. "It's definitely more thought-out that what Gai put on his paper."

"And what would that be?"

"'Jumpsuit of youth,'" he sighed.

Ryuki laughed. "Hey, you say there's a reason for that mask of yours. You don't know that he doesn't have a reason for his jumpsuit."

Kakashi blinked and dropped his hand back to his side. "Are you saying I'm like Gai?"

She smirked. "Maybe I am."

He let out a low growl and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides and pinning her against the wall. "Take it back. Now."

"No." Ryuki's smirk widened, and she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

The jounin lowered his head so that his face was right in front of hers. "Last chance."

"Yeah? Or what?" she challenged.

Without replying, Kakashi removed one of his arms from around Ryuki. He smoothly yanked down his mask and pressed his lips onto hers. Ryuki's eyes shot open with shock. When her mind registered what was happening, her eyes closed and she started to kiss back. The arm that still surrounded her relaxed, and she brought her arms up, wrapping them around his neck. Not long after, they broke apart with their faces just an inch apart. Because of the darkness, Ryuki couldn't see Kakashi's face without his cursed mask.

"Well?" he breathed.

Ryuki thought for a second. "Good turtle," she smirked, kissing him again.


End file.
